Zipper and method of producing the same



May 13, 1952 c. c. COHN ZIPPER AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed May 6, 1948 FIG.

FIG. 3.

INVENTOR. CHA Rigs c COHN BY f dam. r

ATTORN YS Patented May 13, 1952 ZIPPER AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Charles C. (John, Elkins Park, Pa., assignor to Samuel L. Cohn and Charles C. Cohn, copartners trading and doing business as Colonial Alloys Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May 6, 1948, Serial No. 25,468

2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to the production of zippers having their surfaces treated or coated to secure desirable appearance. The invention particularlyrelates to the surface coloring of aluminum zippers.

For many uses, particularly in clothing, the natural color'of the metal from which zipper elementsare formed is objectionable and, consequently, it has been generally customary to provide covering flaps for zippers to hide the elements from .view. These flaps, however, are not always desirable and in many instances a better appearance of the product would result if thev zipper elements, through exposed to view, were. colored either to match the adjacent fabric or tocontrast with it to provide ornam'entationJ-v Various methods of coloring or attempting to color elements have been used. For example, the exposed portions of zipper elements have been painted. When a garment having painted zippers is sold the appearance may be quite attractive; however, in use the paint very readily becomes dislodged and the irregular exposure of bare metal detracts greatly from the appearance of the garment. It has been recognized that a quite superior colored surface from the standpoint of resistance to wear could be produced if zipper elements were made of aluminum orits alloys and the exposed surfaces were oxide coated and then dyed. In particular, if this oxide coating was formed by anodizing the colored oxide coating, being. extremely hard,

would be quite resistant to wear. It may be here remarked that the wear on colored zippers does not occur, on the surfaces exposed to view, due

to the sliding action of the opening and closing passed through the zipper elements, and wires which would conduct these heavy currents to them would be required to be so heavy as to render the zippers objectionably stifi. For the electroplating of zippers, wherein the currents required are much smaller, this expedient has been adopted, but even then is not fully satisfactory since it involves the use of special relatively expensive tapes and also the necessity for exercising considerable care in insuring proper electrical contacts during the plating process. Plating, of course, will produce only a limited range of metallic coatings and cannot be used for securing non-metallic coloring.

The production of oxide coatings on aluminum zipper elements while secured to a tape by chemical (non-electrolytic) action has also been impractical since the baths required, and heretofore known, have been of a type to discolor the material of the tape. 7

It has also been proposed to secure electrical conductivity to the zipper elements after they are secured to a conventional non-conducting tape by providing external contacts with the elements through the'use of conductive screens or by the insurance of continuous contacts through a series of elements by zig-zagging the tapes and elements carried thereby to cause the adjacent elements to be brought into tight engagement with each other, the elements when the tape is stretched out being normally isolated from each other.

In accordance with the present invention the desired results are secured in a quite diiferent fashion. Speaking specifically of anodizing followed by dyeing, the invention involves the provision of extruded or otherwise shaped aluminum or aluminum alloy wires of suitable crosssection which are anodized, or anodized and colored, and are then chopped or segmented to provide individual zipper elements. The anodized coatings formed on the wires adhere very strongly to the metal and are sufiicientlyelastic or extensible so as not to be broken or chipped away. While the segmenting of the formed wire exposes uncoated surfaces these surfaces, in accordance with the invention, are not perceptible in the finished closed zipper and, consequently, a quite uniform coating or coloring is presented to view.

While the invention is particularly applicable to the anodizing and dyeing of the anodized coating of aluminum or aluminum alloys it is not necessarily so limited but is applicable to the production of zippers of aluminum or its alloys which are painted or plated and is also adapted to zippers formed of other metals which are plated or painted. It will, therefore, be understood that while for simplicity the following decription is presented with primary reference to aluminum zippers which are oxide coated either chemically or by anodizing, and are thereafter 3 dyed, the principles involved are more broadly applicable.

The general object of the invention relating to the production of zippers in an improved fashion will be evidentfrom the foregoing. Other objects relate to the improved product Of the invention and to various details of manipulations and will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical axial section through an assembly of frames supporting formed wires for the production of zippers and particularly adapted to carry these in an anodizing procedure;

Figure 2 is an enlarged section illustrating a portion of one of the racks of Figure 1 with wires carried thereon;

Figure 3 is a perspective diagram illustrating the fashion, in which zipper elements are produced from a formed wire and secured on a tape;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation of a modified :form of wire from which zipper elements may be produced;

Figure 5 is an elevation of a single zipper element cut from the wire illustrated in Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of said element.

Preferably used as a part of the present invention is the type of machine for making zippers disclosed in the patents to Sundback 1,467,015, dated September 4, 1923, and 2,141,200, dated December 27, 1938, and in the patent to Lamb 1,817,990, dated August 11, 1931. Figure 3 of the present application is essentially the same as Figure 13 of Sundback Patent 2,141,200 and illustrates the formation of zipper elements from a formed wire 2 which is fed by means of feed rollers 4 and 6 to a chopping element 3 which forms therefrom zipper element blanks which are finished by means of a die [2 and associated elements 14 and 16 to provide a final shaping of this blank to form a depression in one side thereof and a cooperating projection from the other side thereof. The zipper elements are then transferred to a tape 18 provided with beads 19 at its edge over which the zipper elements are clamped through the'cooperation of a pair of pressing levers'22, the final zipper element on the tape being as illustrated at 20. The mechanism so far described forms per se no part of the present invention and has been referred to and illustrated merely for a clearer understanding of the invention. Reference may be made to the patents mentioned above fora further understanding of details of this mechanism. It may also be noted that this mechanism is merely illustrative of a type of mechanism which may be used since the invention may be carried out using other similar devices for cutting zipper elements from a formed wire and clamping them on supporting tapes.

Referring specifically to the use of aluminum or aluminum alloys for the formed wire 2 and the formation of an oxide coating thereon by anodizing, reference may be made to Figures 1 a and 2 which illustrate the initial treatment of the formed wire 2. Racks 24 are provided consisting of annular end rings 24 joined by axially extending rods 26, these being formed of aluminum or aluminum alloy. As illustrated in Figure 1 a series of these racks may be provided of different diameters such that they may be nested in groups to permit the treatment of long lengths of the formed wires 2. These racks may be quite secure both a maximum amount of wire on the racks and also the best electrical contacts by winding the wires in such fashion that their leg portions are in contact, with the edges which :become the ultimate points of the zippers engaging the rods 26. A tight winding in this fashion will result in excellent and sufficient electrical conductivity throughout the entire as- .sembly. and will also result in the exposure to the electrolytic bath of all of those portions of the wires later in the final zipper become exposed to view. A group of the racks may be assembled by one or more conducting bars 28 through which bolts 30 are threaded into the end rings of the racks.

Assembly having been achieved as illustrated in Figure 1 two of these assemblies may be located in spaced relationship with each other in a conventional anodizing tank and alternating current passed between them through the electrolyte in which they are submerged to effect anodizing. Alternatively, of course, direct current anodizing may be used in which case the assembly is made the anode.

The anodizing may be carried out in conventional fashion and the anodizing procedure need not be described in detail. The electrolyte may, for example, comprise conventional solutions of sulphuric acid,'oxalic acid, or mixtures of suiphuric acid and chromic acid, phosphoric acid, malonic acid, hydrofluosilicic acid, manganic acid, various sulfonic and sulphamic acids, potassium bisulfate or the like, which will produce coats of a porous type capable of absorbing dyes. As an example of the anodic treatment just indicated there may be cited anodic treatment in a conventional sulphuric acid electrolyte comprising, for example, a 10% sulphuric acid solution, the anodic treatment being'carrled out for twenty minutes at 15 volts A. C. at temperatures ranging from F. to F. With other electrolytes difierent conditions of times, temperatures, current densities, voltages, concentrations, etc. are usable as will be evident by reference to prior patents and publications in this art.

Instead of producing an aluminum oxide coating by anodizing a coating may be produced by chemical treatment utilizing one of the treatmentsknown to produce a porous coating which will be capable of absorbing dye. Such coatings may be produced by treatments with mixtures of soda ash and sodium chromate, alone or in the presence of glycocoll or potassium permanganate, or by treatment of aluminum or aluminum alloy by a mixture of sodium oxalate and sodium aluminate or by an alkaline solution of an alkali ferricyanide. Since .these treatments and their conditions of operation are known in the art it will not be necessary to give details thereof. Various other chemical treatments for producing oxide coatings are known but some of these produce coatings which are too impervious to accept substantial amounts of dye.

In the case of chemical treatment to produce aluminum oxide coatings'it is, of course, not necessary to provide for the conduction of electric current to the wire to be coated. Accordingly, while there may be used a racking arrangement as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 and heretofore described, the chemical oxide coating may be effected with the wire otherwise supported, or even with it running continuously through a bath at a 'sufiiciently lowrateto insure proper oxidation.

I wide variety of. dyes may be used and in the example of the practice of the invention now being given itis immaterial whether or not the dyes used will or will not dye cotton.

Following the dyeing the dye is preferably sealed, after rinsing, the sealing insuring both permanence of the dyeing and also resistance of the coating to the absorption of other dye if exposure to another dye should be provided later. The sealing may be carried out in any of the usual fashions known to the art. For example, merely by treatment with hot water or by tr atment with nickel acetate, sodium aluminate, alkali silicates or the like. I

The coated and colored wire is now in condition for the production of a zipper and may be handled as illustrated in Figure 3 and described above, the zipper elements being sheared therefrom and clamped upon a tape previously dyed in the desired color. A finished zipper will thus be secured.

In the shearing operation in accordance with Figure 3 the sheared faces of the zipper elements will, of course, be uncoated. However, the coatings on the side surfaces will not be disturbed, at any rate to such a degree as will destroy the continuity of appearance of the color. Specifically, the coating is sufiiciently pliable and elastic as not to be damaged by the pressure applied by levers-22. I The result is that when the zipper is closed in the garment there will be presented to view only the colored surfaces of the zipper elements with, at most, a quite unnoticeahle exposure of uncoated metal surfaces of the projections from the zipper elements which produce their interlocking.

Before discussing variations in procedure there may be referred to the improved type of wire illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6. In this case the wire illustrated generally at 32 which is originally substantially in the extruded form previously indicated is partly segmented to provide zipper element blanks 34 joined by junction portions 36 which have cross sectional areas corresponding substantially to the cross sectional areas and positions of the projections which will ultimately provide for interlocking of the zipper elements. The wire 32 thus provided may be coated, dyed and sealed in the fashion described above; in this case, however, there being exposed for coating all of the exposed areas of the wire including substantial transverse areas of the zipper element blank as well as the exposed areas of the junction portion 36. When this wire is fed as illustrated in Figure 3 with the feeding means properly toothed to index the position of the wire, transverse severance by the knife element 8 may be caused to take place along the plane indicated at AA in Figure 4, i. e., as illustrated, close to but slightly above the upper surface of the zipper element blanks. A severed zipper element is illustrated in Figure 5, this element 38 having In any event the result of this first step of the a slightly protruding upper projection 42. As

will be evident from the treatment referred to the only uncoated portions of this zipper element are'the transverse ends of the two projections. This element when treated in the mechanism illustrated in Figure 3 will have'the slight projection 42 pressed downwardly to form a recess while the projection 49 may be slightly deformed to produce the interlocking projection of the zipper element. In this latertreatment some disturbance of the coating on this projection may take place but to a considerable extent the coating will remain so that in the finished closed zipper there will be a minimum of uncoated metal exposed to view. The transverse faces of the zipper element have their coatings undisturbed so that any exposure of metal at these surfaces is avoided.

In accordance with what has been disclosed above a continuous formed wire, either unsegmented as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, or partially segmented as illustrated in Figure 4, has been oxide coated and dyed to provide pre-dyed zipper elements for securing to a supporting tape. Numerous variations of this procedure, however, will now be evident, for example, the attachment of the zipper elements to a tape prior to dyeing, i, e., the oxide coated wire-may be usedto form oxide coated zipper elements which are then attached to a dyedor undyed tape. Assuming. that the tape is undyed there may be effected dyeing of the zipper elements and the tape in one operation by the use of dyes which will simultaneously color the oxide coatings and dye the cotton tapes. As examples of such dyes there may be mentioned chlorantine fast blue GLM, chlorantine fast yellow B, chloramine sky blue A, Congo. red, and diamine orange BA. I I

Alternatively, if thezipper elements are secured to a tape which has been previously dyed and which is not to be dyed by the dye applied to the secured zipper elements there may be used dyes which will color the oxide coating but which will not dye cotton tape. Among such dyes there may be cited cloth fast blue GN, croceine scarlet MOO,

comacid fast red B, chrome fast blue GR, chmmate brown A, and chromaven green G. Numerous other dyes in both classes mentioned above will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Still another alternative would involve the treatment of a dyed tape in one of the many well known fashions to prevent absorptions of dyes which would normally dye the tape, whereupon the tape with the zipper elements secured thereto could be immersed in a bath of dye which will dye the zipper elements without dyeing the tape even though the dye is of a type which would dye untreated tape.

Still another alternative is to secure dyed and sealed zipper elements to an undyed tape with later dyeing of the tape, the zipper elements then failing to absorb the last dye due to the fact that they are sealed. Still other variations of the procedure will be apparent to those skilled in the art to result in the dyeing of the tape and the zipper elements in the same or contrasting colors.

The invention further makes possible the provision of zippers in which the elements are metallically plated. To attain this end the procedure may be carried out to plate the wire in any conventional fashion while supported for electrical connection on a frame such as that illustrated in Figure 1. The formed wires under these conditions, which may be of the type illustrated in Figure 1 or of the type illustrated v Figure '4; may be forined of aluminum or its alloys or of some other suitable metal. Here again the result is to produce a product in which I the visible coating is undisturbed in the precedui'e or seo'urin'g the zipper elements to the tape. In the case of plating; which may be genera-11y carried out more rapidly than the prodii'ctio'n o'f oxide'coa'tins'; the wires may be run continuously through the bath to efifect progres sive plating. The same may be done in the forr'nation bf oxide ebati'n'g anodi'c'ally but this is generally not commercially practical because "of the icing period of immersion required involvin qiiite "slow progress of the 'tvires through the bath, and hence either baths o'f i'e'i'y eonsider able volume must be iis'd or very small brodu tion rate of the coated wire is attained. W

It will also be Elali froiii the foregoing that the coloring of the Wire error to the formation of the zipper lm'ehts therefrom may be fi'cte'd by painting oi lacquer-me. In the ease or the use of aluminum or its alloys it is desirable to pro'i'lid an oxide boating as a paint base to seeure good adhere er the paint of lacquer. Accordingly, anoaizmg or exide eeatin may e carried out as heretofore described but there in this instance, be used a wider variety or datin procedures 'siiib'e' it will not be necessar that the floating sheul'd be orous; for example, antenna acid az'io'di'z'i'ri'g may in this ease be used as Well a Wide variety or ehemieai oki'di'ing preeedufes unsuitable when eyeing is to be erreeted. I I

an of the ioioirig the ssn at themi'reiiti'oii is the efoeucti'on on a wire; prior to forfiiation of zipper elements theiffi? in, or a coating in either a preliminary or finished condition. While the invention i5 t me or Very efeaa applieability, it will Be evident that it is particulent" appli'abi to the anodizing and dyeing or minimum 6r aluminum anti 'z'iinife. 7

What I olaiih and desire to preteen 163 Letters Pea-teams:

1. The methed of producing coated metallic tippers comprising providing a wire having portions of a cross-section approximating that of a final zipper element connected by portions of less cross sec'tional area, electrolytically coating s'aid 'wire, severing zipper element blank from said wire by cuts through the last mentioned portions thereof; forming said blanks into 'zipper elements each of which has a projection from "one face thereof and a so'ket in the other face there'- of, and seeming said elements on a barrier, said portions bf the wire of less eross se'etibnal area corresponding in position and cross-sectional area to the areas of the el emnt'g at which said projeetions and sockets are formed; Q w K 2. A wire having an e1eftro1ytiea11y epated surface an adapted to be transversely severed to proy'ide gipper element's ease of which has a pro}- j''otibn from one face throf at sdck'et in the other fa theie'tif', said Wii ha providing spa'oed l's and of aere er *i'natifi that of the -finai zi 4 eenneetee b3 portions of less eree' seetioiiai area the Wire being slotted to sii'arate the ls of aajacent first mentioned portions, said portions of the wire of erees-eceenai area earieeeenemg in position and 6res=set1oha1 are; the areas of the elements at it' hieh said fifojibtidii's seekers are'to be terrified; N

CHARLES C;

REFERENCES orran The foilowing references are er feceid in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS 

